Corsair Tri’s - Coastal Cruising and the odd crossing?

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by FrankyB_ZA

SNIP

Today’s question is: Why should a Corsair not be used to cross the big blue? That’s the info I cannot locate.


Please...be nice in your replies.


Cheers

Plenty of boats far less seaworthy than a C31 have crossed oceans; and plenty of boats more seaworthy than a C31 have failed to cross oceans.

As other posters have noted reefing early and having a sea anchor when sails are down should make a C31 able to handle very bad weather; problem is if the weather gets very, very bad or even worse. At some point no boat will be able to stand up to everything the ocean can throw at it.

When the C36 came out there were some issues with bulkheads delamination when going hard to weather. Ian pointed out he was not involved in this design and thought it was a mistake on the part of Corsair to accept the design from others. It was suppose to have been sorta fixed with the later C36 models and definitely fixed in the C37 models.

The thing is going hard to weather in any boat often involves lots of slamming into waves and this can be hard on any boat. Falling off or even heaving to is the standard tactic in these conditions, be the boat multihull or monohull.

Truth be told I would be wary of crossing an ocean in any boat because I tend to act like Chicken of the Sea. More to the point sometimes asking a question says more about a person's readiness and ability to make a passage than if such a passage is possible in a particular boat.

On the other hand I know lots of folks with a long history with fboats who take the position that unless it is something like an F39 you are dealing with a coastal cruiser; something I agree with.

[alansmith]

You might be missing the overall design goal of the F boats. Portability. Tons of guys have sailed from Florida to the Bahamas and down the line southward. Storms approaching in bad weather seasons sail back, load her onto her trailer and head out to another sailing venue. You don’t need to blast through waves at 25 knots. Just go to weather at 65 knots on the interstate.

With a farrier design you can sail any venue you want for as long as you want. Want to sail Lake Powell and next month the San Juan’s. Do it. Couple of months later do the Channel Islands for a couple of months. Lots of interesting anchorages and beauty. Weather cooled off in Mexico? Sail the sea of Cortez for 3-4 months. That F boat is perfect for it.

My trimaran is a Condor 30. It lacks the derigging ease of the farrier designs. But my boat is like an F31 on steroids. Mate, the beauty of trimarans is comfort at speed and portability. Sail the venue you want for as long as you want and then trailer to next venue. Store the boat in the dry yard when not in use. Throw a tarp over her for 6 months and no sun or salt water damage. Can’t beat the concept of portability or cheap maintenance. I bet my costs are less than 25 percent of what a year round live in the water boat costs. Put an Engel fridge/ freezer and a good Yeti like small box and you can load plenty of frozen and Yeti for yogurts, cheese, mayo, beer..

Plenty of boats on this planet never make it out of their 300 mile circumference due to vacation time constricts. With an F boat you can drive to Sea of Cortez in two days. San Juan’s in two days. Channel Islands in a day. Do your vacation and be back.

Need to work on your boat. Pull up in front of your house and go at it. Other skippers in here know me as someone who is always yelling it from the roof top. Trailer sailors are the way to go.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by alansmith

SNIP

Just go to weather at 65 knots on the interstate.


SNIP

Never seen that happen. I have a Prindle 18-2 I tow behind a Sprinter van or if I can get my brother to use his Dodge Ram pickup (he is a much better driver than I am). My top speed is 55 and most guys I know with fboats say the same thing; 55 on interstate is only because you really can't go 50. Just as sailing a boat takes skill so does towing a trailer with more than 25 feet of stuff on it.

[Elie]

I'm looking into an F31 for cruising to the Bahamas, all winter. The main advantage for someone like me, living in Canada would be that the boat can be towed down to Florida quickly(2 days!) instead of passing weeks sailing the Intracoastal waterway to Florida. And the shoal draft of this tri is a benediction for sailing or motorsailing in remotes places in Bahamas, across the Banks. And in case of strong norther, it seems alway possible to lower the mast, and wait-out the bad weather in shallow back water in well protected cove accessible with such a minimal draft of this trimaran. A very large and well made 'bimini' of sort that would cover the boat from amas to amas, would make the F31 livable simply, for a couple most of the time. I own a 47 ft mono, with over 6 ft draft, and sailed to the Bahamas with it. It was feasible, but altough I had all the nices ameneties that comes with it, many time it was not fun at all waiting out in a nasty norther blow .... So for me if would be trading some comfort for simplicity and speed...

[Parttime Sailor]

Hello Elie,

I keep my F-31 in Canada and it is indeed convenient to cruise Florida and the Bahamas after a two-day trailer down. I have sailed it in the Bahamas over two trips for a total of 10 weeks. I never felt the need to lower my mast at anchor in a storm. I wouldn't recommend that.

You can get into extremely shallow water with an F boat, I have pulled up the rudder and daggerboard and used alternating anchors to pull the boat thru a very shallow area to a deeper pool. We sat out an early-season tropical storm this way. The problem is that if you have to leave, it needs to be daytime and you have to be careful.

I've also tucked my boat into very shallow water near shore after weaving through coral heads. We were able to get a very calm anchorage to ourselves this way. But I wouldn't do this if a norther were expected at least until the wind had clocked back around to the north cause in poor light or night it would not have been possible to safely leave due to the coral heads. However, I have seen quite a few places where I could have tucked up into a mangrove creek to wait out a norther. That would have been possible and easy. These were places I'd never take a larger mono or a cruising cat.

I have a cloth dodger on mine that is fantastic for keeping out of the spray when going upwind in a chop, so the boat is effectively quite dry, a mosquito tent for the cockpit and a large sunshade that goes up at anchor. There is lots of room to be outside, carry lightweight kayaks on the nets, etc. Just not much interior room.

John

[belizesailor]

Speaking of the ama nets...it is the best place to sleep if circumstances/conditions permit. [emoji42]

[Elie]

Hello, Parttime Sailor;
Thank you!. So, I'm not dreaming about the possibility of sailing in Bahamas, or elsewhere with a F31. I believe that such shallow draft would open up so many areas of thin waters, otherwise forbiden for a regular sailboat. Going across the Abacco sea without having to bash trough the Whale Cay in a 'rage' or bad weather is a godsend pleasure. My only question is where to find such tri in the corona virus situation, from Canada, with our border locked...

And about bad weather, the Bahamas are victim all winter of regular northers, some of them packing powerfull blows(I have seen 70knts!). But no need the get in the Gulf Steam in a blow, since these winds are well predicted, and there are so many well protected area for a shallow drafted boat.

[Parttime Sailor]

Hello Elie,

The borders will open in time. Look on yachtworld there are quite a few for sale. If you haven't already, join the F boat discussion group at https://fct.groups.io/g/main

A 70kn Norther sounds bad. Both times I was in the Bahamas it was in April and May and the worst weather we had was a T-storm overnight with gusts to 55kn.

Good Luck

John

[Franziska]

Sometimes the world is upside down.

If my boyfriend turns out to have issues with our long-term cruise, I sell the boat and get an old F-27 with aft cabin. Awesome boats and very seaworthy for their size.

Btw. my BF is still looking forward to the cruise, but, he is still growing his sea legs, so we never know.
Having a contingency plan is always good.

[thinwater]

I've had a Corsair and sailed on several. I've had a cruising cat.


The tri is far more fun for day sailing and the cat is far better for cruising. One, two, and three hulls each have sweet spots that they are best for.

[Training Wheels]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Sometimes the world is upside down.

If my boyfriend turns out to have issues with our long-term cruise, I sell the boat and get an old F-27 with aft cabin. Awesome boats and very seaworthy for their size.

Btw. my BF is still looking forward to the cruise, but, he is still growing his sea legs, so we never know.
Having a contingency plan is always good.

You’re boyfriend is too lucky; I hope he appreciates you!

[Parttime Sailor]

I just saw this on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSz_...ature=youtu.be

or search "Pacific crossing on a Corsair Trimaran"

a crew of 4 delivers an C31 to Hawaii

[thomm225]

The Corsair Tri's are way too over powered and lightly built to be caught offshore in bad weather.

A run to the Bahamas when you have a good forecast is fine because you will have a window of opportunity with fine weather

They simply are not built for normal big winds even 30 knots plus higher gusts would probably be a big test for a Corsair while a small full keel monohul of 27' wouldn't have a problem with that

I raced against lots of Corsairs so I have a good idea of what they can do.

I crewed on an F25C and sailed near one for maybe 40 miles.

I was on Nacra 6.0 which isn't an offshore boat either although folks have crossed the Gulf Stream off Florida with them.

Everything is great as long s the weather is nice.

[Parttime Sailor]

Hello Thomm,

You seem to be assuming that I'm advocating crossing oceans in Corsairs. I posted the video because it is on topic to this discussion. See earlier posts. All this has been discussed.

And 30 knots of wind is not a problem in Corsairs if the boat is appropriately reefed. However, the sea state in a prolonged storm could be a serious problem, especially breaking waves.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Parttime Sailor

Hello Thomm,

You seem to be assuming that I'm advocating crossing oceans in Corsairs. I posted the video because it is on topic to this discussion. See earlier posts. All this has been discussed.

And 30 knots of wind is not a problem in Corsairs if the boat is appropriately reefed. However, the sea state in a prolonged storm could be a serious problem, especially breaking waves.

I didn't read your post before posting. I was posting to the OP's question.


But since you brought up the 30 knots not being a problem I have to say that it isn't about the wind speed it's abouit the sea state and wind speed together.

Most any beach cat or Corsair Tri can handle high winds in flat water. It's the big, steep waves that are the problem plus the wind.

Point is on a boat like my Bristol 27, 30 knots in the ocean would be nice for a good downwind run. Not so on a Corsair Tri though. It would be work to keep that thing in one piece.

Just the Bristol's Ballast alone of 2700 lbs mostly 4' below the waterline tells the story. Think about 2-3 days (and nights)of this on a Corsair Tri.

Things like this are what I have learned over these past 9 years owning a full keel cruising boat that I didn't think about during my 15 years racing beach cats (with Corsairs on the race course)

I could even sleep some on my Bristol 27 in these conditons while letting the autpilot drive

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/corsair-31f-31

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/nacra-60

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/bristol-27